Filed to story: Mr Williams Madame Is Dying Novel Free Online (Madison & Hunter) >>
Note: This chapter is also available on Novel Palace account in Wattpad. See Chapter 4 of Mr Williams Madame Is Dying on Wattpad.
Hunter watched her leave. He had been the one to let her go, but why did his heart still ache?
Madison went to a deserted corner and dug her painkillers out of her bag in a fluster. She knew that all the treatments and cancer medicine had side effects, so she only bought some painkillers and regular stomach medicine, which was better than nothing.
Gazing out at the heavy rain, she thought, “Is that the only choice I have left?” That was the last person she wanted to meet, but she had no choice but to take a gamble for her father’s sake.
Madison went home to clean herself up before taking a taxi to Hawthorn Villa. When she had returned to the country more than a year ago, that person had called Madison once.
They hadn’t met in more than ten years, and Madison had no idea how she was doing. Judging by the grand villa, Madison guessed that she had been doing pretty well.
After stating the purpose of her visit, a maid led Madison into the living room, where a graceful woman was sitting. She was as beautiful as Madison remembered her to be.
“Madie,” said the woman as she looked at Madison with her pretty eyes.
However, Madison couldn’t bring herself to call her “Mom.”
Chloe Parker had left when Madison was eight.
It was Jeff’s birthday, and Madison had been in high spirits, eager to return home and celebrate her father’s birthday with her family. She never knew that what awaited her was her parents’ divorce.
Madison had chased after her mother, scrambling down the stairs and falling. She did not even realize that she had lost her shoes. All she cared about was clinging onto her mother’s legs and crying, “Mom, don’t go!”
The graceful woman bent down, stroked Madison’s cheeks, and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Mom, I’m first in my grade. You haven’t seen my test papers yet. You have to sign them. Don’t leave me, Mom. I’ll be a good girl. I promise I won’t go to any more fun fairs. I won’t make you mad. I’ll listen to you. Please …”
Hastily, young Madison blubbered everything she could think of in hopes of making Chloe stay. In the end, Chloe simply told Madison that her marriage with Madison’s father was not a happy one and that she had found her true happiness elsewhere.
Later, Madison watched as a man she had never met helped Chloe place her luggage in a car, and they both left while holding each other’s hands. She chased after their car for a mile without wearing any shoes before crashing heavily onto the ground.
Her feet and knees were scraped, and they bled as she stared at the gradually diminishing outline of the car that she could never reach.
At that time, she could not understand what had happened. Now that she was grown up, she knew that it was because her mother had been caught cheating on her father and simply decided to file for a divorce, leaving him with everything, including Madison herself.
Chloe had never contacted Madison, and the latter hated her with every fiber of her being. She even hoped that she would never have to meet Chloe again.
However, fate worked in mysterious ways, and Madison could do nothing to stop it. Her throat went dry and her feet turned to lead.
Chloe knew what was on her daughter’s mind. She approached Madison and pulled her to sit beside her. “I know you hate me. You were very young back then. Lots of things weren’t as simple as they seemed, so I wasn’t able to explain them to you.”
She caressed Madison’s cheeks and continued, “Look at you, all grown up now. Madie, now that I’m back, I’ll be staying here permanently. I know something’s happened to the Evans family. It doesn’t matter, though, because I’ll take care of you.”
It was then that Madison knew the so-called hatred she harbored toward her mother was not worth mentioning at all. Her voice cracked as she called out, “Mom.”
“My dear, since you’re here already, you should stay and have dinner. Chris has taken good care of me for the past few years. He has a daughter who’s older than you by two years. She’s coming over with her fiancé for dinner. I’ll introduce you to her later.”
However, it was not in Madison’s plans to make herself part of Chloe’s new family. She hastily interrupted her, “Mom, I’m here this time for my dad. My family’s bankrupt now, and Dad just had a heart attack, but I don’t have the money to pay for his surgery. Can you help me? I promise I’ll return the money to you.”
Chloe had not yet replied when they heard a familiar voice.
“Ms. Evans, you truly are short of money, aren’t you? Going so far as to come to my house for it.”
It was like a slap to the face. Madison looked incredulously over at the people standing by the door.
Who else could it be except Andrea and Hunter?
Apparently, fate was toying around with her again. She never thought that her very own mother would be Andrea’s stepmother!
Madison’s husband and mother were now Andrea’s family. To make things worse, those two had caught her in the act of asking her mother for money.
Hunter noticed her uneasiness, but he remained calm and indifferent toward her.
Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced through the awkwardness in the air. Madison noticed a maid pushing in a twin stroller. The moment the babies’ cries started, Hunter was already picking up and soothing one of them skillfully.
They formed an eye-catching picture of a happy family of four. Madison’s child would have been this age too if it were alive.
She started regretting coming here. She felt as if she was being embarrassed and humiliated over and over again. Strangely, one of the babies could not stop crying today. The maid rushed to prepare the milk, yet the cries worsened instead.
Patiently, Hunter continued soothing the baby. “Be good, and don’t cry.”
The sight of a tall man like him holding a baby gently in his arms was heart-warming. Seeing this patient and gentle side of him, Madison suddenly had a thought.
In just a few strides, she approached him and picked up the child. Somehow, Hunter did not stop her from doing so. Even more strangely, the child stopped crying and started to smile the moment Madison held it in her arms.
The corner of its lips curved into a smile, and its eyes twinkled as it looked at her. The child then started chuckling and mumbling, “Ama …”
Its tiny hands reached up in an attempt to grab the fluffy ball-like ornament on her cap. The child was all smiles, which was the exact opposite of Hunter.
It was like a blade had ruthlessly stabbed into her heart, and it was the last straw for her, crushing any bit of persistence left in her.
She once thought that Hunter truly loved her. He had been kind to her during their first year of marriage.
She could still remember him whispering to her, “Madie, let’s have a baby.”
How could she refuse him then?
Even though she had not completed her studies, she did not hesitate to conceive a child.
Only now did she realize that for all the time he spent with her, he did the same with another woman every time he went abroad for business.
Nausea overtook Madison. She returned the baby to Hunter and darted into the toilet. Then, she locked the door behind her.
She did not eat much today. When she puked, all that came out was a mixture of her blood and the medications she took. Crimson liquid filled her sight, and tears started flowing down her cheeks.
“Great, just great,” she thought.
Her marriage had been a joke all along. Everything had an explanation now. It turned out that everything had been planned from the beginning.
So, this was the reason he chose to save Andrea instead of her when they both fell into the water that day. It also explained why he accompanied Andrea when they both went into premature labor.